My own little Super Walmart

So, you know how when you go to Walmart (Super or not), you usually either have a list of totally unrelated items to get or you end up walking out of the store with a set of completely unrelated items. That's what this post is...my unrelated notes, observations, thoughts, conversations, etc. from the last several days.

At the Gym
I will never wear anything with the words "cheer," "dance," or anything else written on my rear end.

I will never work out in a matching velvet jumpsuit.

I will never like the girls who wear either of the above, especially at the gym.

The girls who wear the above are 9 times out of 10 not at the gym to work out, but to LOOK out...as in, at the guys stretching their big muscles.

I should take one of my headphones out of my ear before asking someone if they are using the core ball on the mat next to them. I'm pretty sure I yelled at someone when I did not intend to.

I need to be more aware of my surroundings and less inside my head, lest I end up singing out loud while on the treadmill...a little "Gold Digger" came out the other day.

It's ok to cut one of my sets short if the blasted oblique machine opens up...someone is ALWAYS on it, so I've learned to make a run for it when it's free.


At Work
If you are carrying a set of 2 x 4 wood planks, please do not cut a corner closely or at 30 mph. I almost got my head knocked off by an art student doing this today.

I'll just let the kids call me ma'am. Even if I feel ancient, they are being polite...and that's good. Besides, if I call them "kids," it's only fair that they can call me "ma'am," right?

At Home
Don't leave Wilbert to frolic on the balcony alone. He gets his adrenaline moving from being so excited and can nearly clear the wall. Splattered Wilbert would not be pretty.

Sometimes being neat and organized means I can't find an extra quarter under the couch when it's needed. Perhaps I should become a little messier.

My new cell sucks. I need to go replace it. Every other word out of my mouth is, "Huh?" because the earpiece leaves something to be desired.

With Friends
I have some good ones. I think I'll keep them.

Honesty is the best policy.

After they tell you something important is coming up, call after to see how things went. It lets them know you think they're special so they don't have to guess at it.

Go to church together. Eat together. Laugh together. Pray together. Be together.

With the Opposite Sex
Hold your cards close and proceed with caution. But do proceed.

Remember that God knows you better than you know yourself...my paraphrase of "His ways and thoughts are higher than ours." So, in the end, it's always okay.

They are just people trying to do the best they can too. (Although sometimes their best falls terribly short...then again, so does mine.)

Be yourself. Sometimes, "myself" seems not good enough...I'm not all put together in the right ways...I slip, I say things I don't mean, I can't think of the cute little line until after the moment has passed, I'm sarcastic, and I'm afraid to just say, "I like you." But, I still think I should be myself. Sometime, that imperfect self is going to be just perfect for someone else.

With GOD
Love Him.
Worship Him.
Thank Him.
Trust Him.
Approach Him.
Serve Him.
Share Him.
ALWAYS.

This is what I walked out of my internal Super Walmart with. Unlike Walmart, I didn't have to wait in an unbearably long line or use my debit card. But I do have to wait on a regular basis to learn such lessons and usually they do come with a price. Next time I go to Walmart, I may think of this and not mind the line so much.

Thoughts from Abby on Virginia Tech...

I have been trying to think of something brilliant to post about the horrific events at Virginia Tech University on Monday. I keep coming up with nothing. How do you put these things into words? As someone who works at a large university, I have wondered how safe I really am from time to time. Then again, safety is in the eye of the beholder. Whereever I find myself, I know that I am safe...not because a gunman can't enter the Art building, but because I belong to One who will keep me forever.

So...rather than going on an on, I found Abby's post to be right on. You can link to it (and I encourage you to do so) by clicking on the Abby in Georgia link to the right.

Wedding Bells

This past Saturday, we married off one of our home group girls, Jordan. She's now Mrs. Jesse Guillory. :) Oh, and these pics are obviously not in order.

Sorry it's blurry but it's the only shot I got of them walking out--Mr. & Mrs. Guillory
Home group w/o the Bride
L-R: Linda, Rikki, Juliana, me, Cookie, Abby, Kari

Home group w/ Jordan--she's one in the white dress! :)

Jordan walking in

Our table toasting

(Note Abby on the left, our resident seminarian, with water for her toast!)

Me & Cookie

Linda, Rikki, & Juliana

Jackson, the ring bearer, ran around like a crazy fool--very cute!

Abby & Kari

Worship at the Altar of the Cell Phone

On Wednesday evening, I left a voicemail for my friend Casey. We were planning to meet after church that night, but she had said earlier she didn't know if she could make it. So I left the voicemail to see if it turned out she would make it. (I'm going somewhere with this...stay with me.)

So, I hang up the phone and it was like one of those times in the movies where everything goes in slow motion as I lost my grip on my phone and it went flying up in the air. I tried to catch it. Really, I did. But the phone committed suicide by diving to the concrete ground below.

I have dropped my phone several times. Just a few days before this, I had dropped it and when I picked it up, I could hear something rattling inside. I thought that couldn't be good, but the phone worked so whatever. I only needed it to last another 3 weeks until I was due for an upgrade. 3 weeks.

This time I was not so lucky. The phone hit the concrete and shattered into several pieces. My friend Linda is one of those really smart (and really determined) people and she gave me false hope when she put the pieces back together so it looked fine again. But alas, when we turned on the phone, the keys lit but the screen was totally dead. :(

What survived the fall: the ability to dial and the ability for the person on the other end to hear me.

What did not survive the fall: the ability to hear the other person, the ability to see what I'm dialing (who I'm calling) and the ability for me to screen calls since the face was not working. Boo.

So the conversation I could potentially have would go something like this:
Me: (after dialing for a moment) HELLO? WHO IS THIS?
Other person: silence
Me: Did I call my grandma? I was trying to call my grandma!
Other person: silence
Me: Okay, my phone isn't working! Sorry if I called the wrong number!
Other person: silence

I have no landline. I only have a cell. Thanks to this, I have no one's number memorized. I realized that without my phone, I was able to call a total of two people in the world (if I had a phone, which I didn't)--my grandma and my dad. With the advent of the cell phone, I hadn't memorized any numbers, including my best friends. I have a so-called address book...I think it was last updated in 1999.

I worship my cell phone. I didn't know it until I didn't have it. I couldn't call Casey to find out if she could still go out after church. I couldn't talk to Rick to set up weekend plans. I couldn't call Katie about Friday. Worse, no one could call me. Something could happen to Grandma and she had no way to contact me.

So, as I went to a prayer & fasting meeting at church (how appropriate), I realized another fast I could take sometime would be my cell phone. Contrary to what I thought, I actually survived about 23 hours without a cell phone. To God be the glory.

I got to go home last weekend for Grandma's 86th birthday! It just so happened that Amy was in town for her brother's birthday and Christine's sister was in town too. So we had a hoopla of a weekend!

The Vineyard Wine Bar--our little enclave

L-R: Chrissy, me, Josh, Amy, Christine, Jennifer & Jacqueline

Happy Birthday, dear Grandma

Amy, Amy's cousin Kara, and Kara's son Nathan who is

SOOOOOO cute!

Wilbert--'nuff said.